Exams suffer as university strike deal fails

Students across the UK have supported the strike by university lecturersDANNY LAWSON/PA

Final year exams at more than 60 universities are set to be severely disrupted after a deal to end the lecturers’ strike was rejected out of hand.

Union leaders said that they would now make “detailed preparations” for 14 days of strikes to be held during the exam period of May and June.

In a message to members, they called for those who were external examiners at the affected universities to “consider their position with a view to putting pressure on the assessment season”.

The University and College Union (UCU) has also reminded employers that under the terms of the strike lecturers would refuse to reschedule missed lectures or classes. That would leave hundreds of thousands of students finishing courses by themselves with little support…